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ServiceNow Platform MCP Server

Create a powerful Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for ServiceNow in minutes with our AI Gateway. This guide walks you through setting up seamless ServiceNow integration with enterprise-grade security and instant OAuth authentication.

About ServiceNow Platform API​

ServiceNow is the leading digital workflow platform that makes work, work better for people. Used by over 7,400 enterprises, ServiceNow provides comprehensive IT service management and beyond:

  • Incident Management: Create, track, and resolve IT incidents
  • Problem Management: Root cause analysis and permanent fixes
  • Change Management: Plan, approve, and implement changes
  • Service Catalog: Self-service portal for IT services
  • CMDB: Configuration management database
  • Knowledge Management: Centralized knowledge base
  • Workflow Automation: Visual workflow designer
  • Virtual Agent: AI-powered conversational interfaces

Key Features​

  • REST API: Comprehensive RESTful interface
  • Table API: Direct access to ServiceNow tables
  • Scripted REST APIs: Custom API endpoints
  • GraphQL API: Flexible data queries
  • Rate Limiting: Instance-specific limits
  • Batch API: Process multiple operations
  • Attachment API: File upload/download
  • Import Set API: Data transformation

What You Can Do with ServiceNow MCP Server​

The MCP server transforms ServiceNow's API into a natural language interface, enabling AI agents to:

Incident & Request Management​

  • Smart Incident Handling

    • "Create a P1 incident for the database outage"
    • "Find all incidents affecting the payment system"
    • "Escalate incidents breaching SLA to managers"
    • "Auto-assign incidents based on CI ownership"

  • Service Request Automation

    • "Process all laptop requests from new hires"
    • "Route software requests to appropriate teams"
    • "Check approval status for pending requests"
    • "Bulk approve standard catalog items"

  • Intelligent Routing

    • "Assign incidents based on skillset and availability"
    • "Route VIP tickets to senior technicians"
    • "Distribute workload across support teams"
    • "Escalate based on impact and urgency"

Change & Release Management​

  • Change Operations

    • "Create emergency change for security patch"
    • "Find all changes scheduled for this weekend"
    • "Check for conflicting changes on critical systems"
    • "Generate change advisory board agenda"

  • Release Planning

    • "List all releases for Q1 2025"
    • "Track release readiness status"
    • "Identify dependencies between releases"
    • "Generate release notes from completed changes"

  • Risk Assessment

    • "Analyze risk scores for pending changes"
    • "Find high-risk changes without backout plans"
    • "Check change success rates by type"
    • "Identify frequently failing changes"

CMDB & Asset Management​

  • Configuration Items

    • "Update server configurations after migration"
    • "Find all CIs related to the CRM application"
    • "Track relationships between infrastructure components"
    • "Identify orphaned configuration items"

  • Asset Lifecycle

    • "List all assets nearing end of warranty"
    • "Track software license compliance"
    • "Find unused assets for reallocation"
    • "Generate asset refresh reports"

  • Dependency Mapping

    • "Show all dependencies for critical services"
    • "Identify single points of failure"
    • "Map application-to-infrastructure relationships"
    • "Visualize service impact analysis"

Analytics & Reporting​

  • Performance Metrics

    • "Generate SLA compliance report for last month"
    • "Show MTTR trends by assignment group"
    • "Analyze incident volume by category"
    • "Track first-call resolution rates"

  • Capacity Planning

    • "Forecast ticket volume for next quarter"
    • "Analyze resource utilization by team"
    • "Identify peak demand periods"
    • "Plan staffing based on historical data"

  • Business Intelligence

    • "Calculate cost per incident by service"
    • "Show ROI of automation initiatives"
    • "Track customer satisfaction trends"
    • "Generate executive dashboards"

Automation & Orchestration​

  • Workflow Automation

    • "Create automated remediation workflows"
    • "Build approval chains for requests"
    • "Design escalation procedures"
    • "Implement auto-assignment rules"

  • Integration Orchestration

    • "Sync incidents with external monitoring tools"
    • "Update CMDB from discovery sources"
    • "Integrate with collaboration platforms"
    • "Connect to third-party ticketing systems"

  • Virtual Agent Enhancement

    • "Train virtual agent on new scenarios"
    • "Create conversation flows for common requests"
    • "Analyze virtual agent effectiveness"
    • "Route complex queries to human agents"

Knowledge Management​

  • Knowledge Base Operations

    • "Create KB articles from resolved incidents"
    • "Find relevant solutions for current problems"
    • "Update outdated documentation"
    • "Track article effectiveness metrics"

  • Self-Service Enablement

    • "Suggest articles based on incident description"
    • "Auto-link knowledge to similar tickets"
    • "Generate FAQs from frequent incidents"
    • "Measure deflection rates"

Prerequisites​

  • Access to Cequence AI Gateway
  • ServiceNow instance (any supported version)
  • Admin role or oauth_admin role
  • OAuth application registration capability

Step 1: Create ServiceNow OAuth Application​

Before setting up the MCP server, you need to create an OAuth application in ServiceNow.

1.1 Access ServiceNow Instance​

  1. Log in to your ServiceNow instance as an administrator
  2. Under All tab, search for Inbound Integration
  3. Click New Integration
  4. Select OAuth - Authorization Code grant

1.2 Configure OAuth Application​

Fill in the Details form with the following:

  1. Name: "AI Gateway MCP Integration" (or your preferred name)
  2. Redirect URLs: 
    https://auth.aigateway.cequence.ai/v1/outbound/oauth/callback
  3. Client ID: Auto-generated (copy this value)
  4. Client Secret: Auto-generated (copy this value)
  5. Access Token Lifespan: Set custom value or keep default
  6. Refresh Token Lifespan: Set custom value or keep default
  7. Active: Check this box
  8. Click Submit to create the application

1.3 Configure OAuth Entity Scopes (Optional)​

For granular permissions:

  1. Navigate to System OAuth Entity Scopes
  2. Create scopes for specific tables/operations
  3. Associate scopes with your OAuth application

1.4 Set User Access​

  1. Ensure integration user has appropriate roles:
    • rest_api_explorer
    • itil (for ITSM operations)
    • Table-specific access as needed

Step 2: Access AI Gateway Apps​

  1. Log in to your Cequence AI Gateway dashboard
  2. Navigate to Apps in the left sidebar
  3. You'll see the list of available third-party applications

Step 3: Find and Select ServiceNow API​

  1. In the Apps section, browse through the Third-party category
  2. Look for ServiceNow Platform or use the search function
  3. Click on the ServiceNow API card to view details

The ServiceNow API card shows:

  • Number of available endpoints
  • Integration capabilities
  • Quick description of functionality

Step 4: Create MCP Server​

  1. Click the Create MCP Server button on the ServiceNow API card
  2. You'll be redirected to the MCP Server creation wizard

Step 5: Configure API Endpoints​

In the App Configuration step:

  1. Base URL format: https://{instance}.service-now.com
  2. Select API endpoints to expose to your MCP server based on your needs
  3. Click Next to proceed

Step 6: MCP Server Basic Setup​

Configure your MCP server details:

  1. MCP Server Name: Enter a descriptive name

    • Example: "ServiceNow ITSM Automation"
    • This name will identify your server in the dashboard

  2. Description (Optional): Add details about the server's purpose

    • Example: "Automated IT service management and workflow orchestration"

  3. Production Mode: Toggle based on your needs

    • ON for production environments
    • OFF for development/testing

  4. Click Next to continue

Step 7: Configure Authentication​

This is where you'll use your ServiceNow OAuth credentials:

  1. Authentication Type: Select OAuth 2.0

  2. Fill in the OAuth configuration:

    • Grant Type: Authorization Code
    • Authorization URL: 
      https://{instance}.service-now.com/oauth_auth.do
    • Token URL: 
      https://{instance}.service-now.com/oauth_token.do
    • Client ID: Paste from ServiceNow OAuth application
    • Client Secret: Paste from ServiceNow OAuth application
    • Redirect URI: 
      https://auth.aigateway.cequence.ai/v1/outbound/oauth/callback

  3. Scopes: Use default scope (see next section)

Available ServiceNow OAuth Scopes​

ServiceNow provides a default OAuth scope for API access:

  • useraccount
    • Access to user account information
    • API operations and table access
    • Standard authentication scope

This is the predefined scope provided by ServiceNow for OAuth integrations.

Step 8: Configure Security​

Set up API protection features:

  1. API Protection: Toggle ON to enable

    • Protects against bot attacks, DDoS, and threats
    • Monitors for suspicious activity
    • Rate limiting and anomaly detection

  2. Protection Features (when enabled):

    • Auto-scaling protection
    • Managed infrastructure
    • Built-in monitoring
    • Zero maintenance required

  3. Click Next to continue

Step 9: Choose Deployment Method​

Select your deployment preference:

  • Fully managed deployment
  • Automatic scaling and monitoring
  • Built-in high availability
  • Features included:
    • Auto-scaling
    • Managed infrastructure
    • Built-in monitoring
    • Zero maintenance

Option B: Deploy with Helm Chart​

  • Self-managed Kubernetes deployment
  • Full control over infrastructure
  • Requires:
    • Kubernetes cluster
    • Helm 3.x installed
    • Container registry access

Click Next after selecting your deployment method.

Step 10: Review and Deploy​

Review your MCP server configuration:

  • MCP Server Name: Your chosen name
  • Base URL: https://{instance}.service-now.com
  • Selected Endpoints: Number of endpoints selected
  • Authentication: OAuth 2.0 (Configured)
  • API Protection: Enabled/Disabled
  • Deployment: Cequence Cloud or Helm

Click Create & Deploy to finalize the setup.

Step 11: Post-Deployment Setup​

After successful deployment:

  1. Note the MCP Server URL provided

  2. Test the OAuth flow:

    • Click "Test Connection"
    • You'll be redirected to ServiceNow login
    • Authenticate with your credentials
    • Approve the OAuth request
    • Confirm successful connection

  3. Configure AI Agents:

    • The MCP server is now available for AI agent connections
    • Use the provided server URL in your AI agent configuration

Using Your ServiceNow MCP Server​

Setup Instructions:

Getting Help​